Help handling Dog with Severe Separation Anxiety

[Greenepona]

My Boyfriend moved in together to an Apartment just a month ago. He has a awesome dog named Swallow. She is a 5 year old 25lb beautiful Cockapoo... who suffers from Severe separation anxiety when one of both of us aren't in the room/Apartment. When he lived with his ex wife, Swallow was left in the bedroom all day and she was fine. When he moved to his Parents during the divorce, she ran free in the house with their other 4 dogs, but was crate trained if no one was home. At the apartment, we tried

crating: she bent almost all the bars on the sides, and barked constantly. Even with a thundershirt... no effect. she tore off the shirt.

Leaving her in the apartment: Tore up the carpet at the door, and scratched the door.

Leaving her in the bedroom: We put plastic carpet protectors on the floor and Plexiglas on the door, she chewed up the plastic, tore up the carpet, and pulled the plexi from the door.

I don't know what else we can do for her? Has any one had a situation like this? What have you done? Tried medication? Training?

She gets stressed and cries, wimpers, scratches, and/or barks if my BF or I just goes down the hall.

We have only been in our apartment a month and it already looks trashed, and Swallow is obviously stressing out.

I don't know what to do. She is very stressed out and therefore is destroying things so that makes us stressed.

Any suggestions/Advice would be welcome.

 

[Jax1023]

When we firs adopted our beagle she was like this. Incessant barking if I even went down the basement to do laundry.

We broke her off it with a kong. We crate her and give her a kong stuffed with treat whenever we leave.

Now she runs to the crate becuase she knows she is getting treats.

Stuffing it with peanut butter is the best becuase they have to work on it for hours. And start small, give it to her, leave for 30 minutes come back. Slowly aim for longer.

If it does't get better, talk to you vet, you may need to consider medicating her for a short period of time

 

[Greenepona]

We tried a Kong, she had no interest. She LOVES Peanut Butter too. She wont eat when we aren't home either

I am glad your beagle got used to it now

 

[Agri]

If you can, get her a friend or send her back to live with mom. It sounds like she really enjoyed the company she had there - she probably got more attention there, too.

Dogs are a lot like kids - she went through the divorce, too. All this is new for her and she's now on her third major change in just 5 years of her life.

 

[dngnb8]

When we first got Aspen

he would howl like a Wolf when we left him outside and went to work. We have a huge backyard for him to play, but being alone made him sick. Tried crating, didnt work any better.

Then, we got Kahlua (seen here with Aspen). That was it. They are inseparable. Now I know you have an apartment, and that is also a problem, but maybe, its not mom and dad being gone that is the issue, its just being alone.

 

[bitohoney]

I remember seeing a holistic remedy for seperation anxiety on onlynaturalpet.com when I was looking for some remedies to my cat problems.

 

[goofy!]

My Boyfriend moved in together to an Apartment just a month ago. He has a awesome dog named Swallow. She is a 5 year old 25lb beautiful Cockapoo... who suffers from Severe separation anxiety when one of both of us aren't in the room/Apartment. When he lived with his ex wife, Swallow was left in the bedroom all day and she was fine. When he moved to his Parents during the divorce, she ran free in the house with their other 4 dogs, but was crate trained if no one was home. At the apartment, we tried

crating: she bent almost all the bars on the sides, and barked constantly. Even with a thundershirt... no effect. she tore off the shirt.

Leaving her in the apartment: Tore up the carpet at the door, and scratched the door.

Leaving her in the bedroom: We put plastic carpet protectors on the floor and Plexiglas on the door, she chewed up the plastic, tore up the carpet, and pulled the plexi from the door.

I don't know what else we can do for her? Has any one had a situation like this? What have you done? Tried medication? Training?

She gets stressed and cries, wimpers, scratches, and/or barks if my BF or I just goes down the hall.

We have only been in our apartment a month and it already looks trashed, and Swallow is obviously stressing out.

I don't know what to do. She is very stressed out and therefore is destroying things so that makes us stressed.

Any suggestions/Advice would be welcome.

If getting another dog is not feasible, you can always check into doggy daycare if you are gone for long periods of time during the day, ie; work.

I would contact a trainer in your area and work with them. Also talk to your vet to see what options you have there. I would also have a full physical to make sure there isn't anything medical that is going on. Especially if she was ok in previous houses.

 

[stinkerbelle's mom]

My suggestion would be to get another dog or even a cat for companionship.

If all else fails would it be possible for his parents to take Swallow?

 

[Greenepona]

We really cant afford another Dog right now, and His Parents can't take her back... they are already overwhelmed with the 4 dogs they have (3 standard poodles, and a schnauzer)

We found some Claw caps for dogs...like the ones they sell for cats.. Has anyone ever used those?

 

[jemmouse]

I have a cockapoo named Princess. She is my wonder dog at 12 1/2 years old. Has had a tumor for over 2 years and has blown out her cruciate ligament in her knee. She is on pain meds along with a daily steroid. She is a fighter.

I truly believe Cockapoos are just so smart and so intuitive to their owners. They are part of the family, but sometimes I think she thinks she's a human. when she gets in trouble which hasent happened in years but we would let her outside and she would sit midway in the back and no matter what she wouldn't come in until we went to carry her . I have been raised with ponies, tons of dogs,cats,chickens,rabbits, even a pig for a few days, ha. Never have I seen such a smart dog there are just to many to list.

When we go on vacation she looks so sad going to my moms.when we return to go and get her she walks out of the house and sits next to our car, she won't go anywhere but in our car, she wants to go home. When we moved in our new house every time we would leave she always tried to get in the car thinking probably she wanted to go back to the old house.
I know I didn't answer your question but GOOD LUCK they are so smart and just love us to much.

 

[dngnb8]

We really cant afford another Dog right now, and His Parents can't take her back... they are already overwhelmed with the 4 dogs they have (3 standard poodles, and a schnauzer)

We found some Claw caps for dogs...like the ones they sell for cats.. Has anyone ever used those?

I dont believe in those. They probably will chew them off.

 

[maxiesmom]

If getting another dog is not feasible, you can always check into doggy daycare if you are gone for long periods of time during the day, ie; work.

I would contact a trainer in your area and work with them. Also talk to your vet to see what options you have there. I would also have a full physical to make sure there isn't anything medical that is going on. Especially if she was ok in previous houses.

I know the woman who does It is Me or the Dog (Gloria Stillwell, I think) on tv has addressed this problem. I wonder if you can find that episode on line to watch it. I think a lot of it had to do with not reacting or giving the dog any contact when leaving or coming back to your home. There was a lot of ignoring the dog going on at first, even when just sitting on the couch there was to be no petting. I know the family she was with had a horrible situation where the dog would open the fridge, eat everything, and then relieve itself all over the house.

The dog has to earn petting, and you have to make it not a big deal when you come and go from your home. That was the biggest part of it.

 

[Greenepona]

I know the woman who does It is Me or the Dog (Gloria Stillwell, I think) on tv has addressed this problem. I wonder if you can find that episode on line to watch it. I think a lot of it had to do with not reacting or giving the dog any contact when leaving or coming back to your home. There was a lot of ignoring the dog going on at first, even when just sitting on the couch there was to be no petting. I know the family she was with had a horrible situation where the dog would open the fridge, eat everything, and then relieve itself all over the house.

The dog has to earn petting, and you have to make it not a big deal when you come and go from your home. That was the biggest part of it.

Yep! I watched that episode We have started to practice this. It has helped her be less excited when we come home, calm down faster, etc, but has not changed the issues when we leave. When we come home, Besides moving her from the door - she jumps all over us, and might dash out the door...as she did this AM). we don't pay her any contact or attention until she has settled down, stopped panting etc. Then we pet her.

 

[Parkers_girl]

When we adopted our new dog last October we had the hardest time crate training her. Out of all the dogs I've crate trained she had the hardest time adjusting. She was fine if we were home and she was out of the cage, but as soon as we would leave the house she would bark non-stop. She even barked at night in her crate, even though we were 20 feet away, it was miserable. We couldn't leave her out because she chewed anything she could find.

We found canine lullabies, http://www.caninelullabies.com, downloaded the CD and put it in a CD player before we left the house or when we went to bed at night. The music relaxed her enough so that she would bark for only a minute or two then she would be fine. We used the CD for about a month and now she is absolutely fine when we leave her in her crate (without the CD). We still play the CD if there is a thunderstorm or fireworks because it helps relax them so much. My older dog used to be terrified of thunder and when we played the CD he would curl up and sleep despite the thunder outside, it was amazing.

 

[walden]

My Boyfriend moved in together to an Apartment just a month ago. He has a awesome dog named Swallow. She is a 5 year old 25lb beautiful Cockapoo... who suffers from Severe separation anxiety when one of both of us aren't in the room/Apartment. When he lived with his ex wife, Swallow was left in the bedroom all day and she was fine. When he moved to his Parents during the divorce, she ran free in the house with their other 4 dogs, but was crate trained if no one was home. At the apartment, we tried

crating: she bent almost all the bars on the sides, and barked constantly. Even with a thundershirt... no effect. she tore off the shirt.

Leaving her in the apartment: Tore up the carpet at the door, and scratched the door.

Leaving her in the bedroom: We put plastic carpet protectors on the floor and Plexiglas on the door, she chewed up the plastic, tore up the carpet, and pulled the plexi from the door.

I don't know what else we can do for her? Has any one had a situation like this? What have you done? Tried medication? Training?

She gets stressed and cries, wimpers, scratches, and/or barks if my BF or I just goes down the hall.

We have only been in our apartment a month and it already looks trashed, and Swallow is obviously stressing out.

I don't know what to do. She is very stressed out and therefore is destroying things so that makes us stressed.

Any suggestions/Advice would be welcome.

I'm so sorry. This is a tough one. I'd consult a behaviorist and ask my vet about meds. This is the best article ever I found on this issue. http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2002/sa.htm

 

[bitohoney]

Here's a few remedies. Hope the link works. I use Pet Naturals of Vermont calming treats and Rescue Remedy Pet for my cats and it works wonders. They have stuff for dogs also.



http://search.onlynaturalpet.com/se...ic+Care&avs|Health+Condition=Anxiety+/+Stress

 

[rchristiansen]

Talk to your vet about it. There are many medications for it.

Our dog actually has "mental" issues as she has gotten older. Not separation anxiety but other forms of anxiety diagnosed by the vet. Years ago she had one type of medicine for dealing with thunderstorms.

Now, she has other issues with anxiety.First had a prescription of Xanax for a month and then the vet weened her off onto "Reconcile" (which is Prozac for dogs). The Reconcile bottle says "For separation anxiety". http://www.reconcile.com/

Now that we know that works OK,the vet has given her a prescription for actual Prozac which we can get from Walgreens because it's cheaper than the official "dog" variety

 

[Sarah_Rose]

We had this issue with our German Shepherd, after we adopted him at 2 years old. He tore a crate apart, scratched at the door, and barked incessantly for hours. We were also in an apartment, so we had to deal with it fast before we were evicted.

We started with the first step in the leaving routine that got him anxious - picking up my keys - and started doing it hundreds of times a day until he stopped reacting. Then on to putting on our shoes and coats over and over, and finally leaving the apartment, only to come back in immediately. We gradually lengthened the time we left, until Jack could go 5-10 minutes with us gone, without freaking out. The last step was hiding in the hallway for up to 30 minutes at a time (I sat a few apartments down with a book, after faking out Jack by opening and closing the stairwell door like I had left) and if he let out so much as a single "woof", I burst back into the apartment and scolded him, and then immediately left again, so that he wouldn't be "rewarded" for his bad behaviour by me coming back. Me coming back in to scold him after he barked couldn't be a pleasant association, so it was a quick, "no! no barking!" in a loud voice, and then I immediately left the apartment again. After doing this a half dozen times or so, Jack figured out that he could get in trouble for barking at any time, even if he thought we were gone, and we never had a single barking complaint after that.

We adopted another German Shepherd a year later (and moved out of the apartment and to a house), and now Jack often doesn't even get up when I leave the house. Jack is a very people-centered dog and so we didn't think that he would bond to another dog so closely, but he definitely has.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Besides the time you are gone and this happens, what else does the dog do in its life? Any exercise? A "job"? Games? Walks? Rides?

It sounds to me like he got a taste of how fun life could be, and simply doesn't want to be alone and bored anymore.

When he lived with his ex wife, Swallow was left in the bedroom all day and she was fine. When he moved to his Parents during the divorce, she ran free in the house with their other 4 dogs, but was crate trained if no one was home.

First thing I would try would be to establish a DAILY routine of fun and exercise with the dog when you get home. I'd also try for more again at night and ideally again in the morning. If you do this every day the dog will learn to anticipate and look forward to it, although it takes a while. It's basically establishing trust. Trust that, although he's alone and maybe scared, bored, etc, that you WILL come back and that he WILL have fun with you every day. He has had a lot of disruption in his life so you can't blame him for his anxiety. Your job will be to reestablish the routine he's never really had. Dogs THRIVE on routine. I know it's a lot of work, but that's what it's going to take to turn this around.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Here is a good article that I think will help you: http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/SeparationAnxiety.php